A local computer network has been developed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of an integrated laboratory data acquisition and processing system. This network is configured with satellites connected in a star configuration to a host processor. At each satellite a dedicated microcomputer system performs data acquisition from and control over an instrument/experiment. Although acquired data files may be stored locally, they are normally transferred via the network to a host storage medium. The hub of the network, the concentrator utilizes DMA hardware on all communication links and performs a file store and forward function. The local network allows the host storage medium to appear as a "virtual" storage device to the satellites.